Various vehicle body front part structures of the type concerned are known and used heretofore. According to one example shown in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (JP-A) No. 2006-290311, a vehicle body front part structure includes a pair of right and left front side frames as main components thereof, and each of the right and left front side frames has an axial load receiving member (hereinafter referred to as “compressive load bearing frame member”) extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and a moment receiving member (hereinafter referred to as “bending load bearing frame member”) curved inwardly of the vehicle body as extending rearwardly of the vehicle body.
According to the vehicle body front part structure shown in JP 2006-290311 A), the compressive load bearing frame member configured to extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body is able to bear or sustain a load acting in a direction from the front toward the rear of the vehicle body. Furthermore, the bending load bearing frame member branched from a longitudinally central portion of the compressive load bearing frame member and curved inwardly of the vehicle body as extending rearwardly of the vehicle body is able to bear or sustain a load acting in a lateral or widthwise inward direction of the vehicle body.
The compressive load bearing frame member has a rear end portion connected or joined to a front end portion of a floor frame. In the case where the floor frame is offset relative to the compressive load bearing frame member in a lateral inward direction of the vehicle body, the rear end portion of the compressive load bearing frame member is curved inwardly of the vehicle body for connection or joining with the front end portion of the floor frame. The thus curved rear end portion of the compressive load bearing frame member has a rigidity, which is insufficient to sustain an axial load acting in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Accordingly, when the front side frame is subjected to a front collision input, the compressive load bearing frame member as a whole is rendered practically impossible to sustain an axial load resulting from the front collision input.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle body front part structure including a front side frame having a compressive load bearing frame member which is connectable to a floor frame and has a rigidity sufficient to sustain an axial load acting thereto during a front collision even when the floor frame is offset from the compressive load bearing frame member toward a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle body.